Kato, (my rottiboy) has yet another ear infection :sad: Seriously I am at my wits end with this.
My vet has put him on various antibiotics over the past couple years, and while there is usually a small improvement it's usually short lived.
We have changed his diet many times over the years, being sure to avoid ingredients which could increase the chance of ear infections such as beetroot.
I clean his ears and put in his drops twice a day every day, and each and every time I take out lots of this tar like substance. When he shakes his head, sometimes big globs of this crap comes flying out.
I have taken him to a different vet for a second opinion, and his opinon was to put him on the same antibiotics my vet has tried over and over.
I don't know what to do anymore. If you even reach out and he thinks you are going to touch his ears he yelps and flinches. My heart breaks for him, because I've done everything my vet has told me to do and this keeps reoccurring over and over and over.
Has anyone else here have or had a dog with chronic ear infections? Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I can get this to stop? Any help would be appreciated.
Thank you.

Has the vet done a yeast culture and a bacterial culture & sensitivity test?

Does Kato have any known allergies?

He has done cultures, and more just a couple weeks ago. I was called to come in and pick up new antibiotics, but my vet was in surgery when I got there so one of his tech's just told me it's another infection gave me the meds and told me to have a nice day

Kato doesn't have any known allergies, but I was told Rotti's are actually sensitive to things such as beetroot and to avoid them if possible, so I do.

I don't know if it could be the fact there is a lot of construction going on around here and maybe there's dust blowing around getting in his ears ...I'm just confuzzled to all heck

I culture & sensitivy test is more involved than an ordinary culture as far as I know.

I'm taking Kato back in on Wednesday so I'm going to request a yeast culture and sensitivity test.
I believe he has done a yeast culture awhile back but to be honest I can't remember.
I'm just hoping it's not cancer
I found out that one of his littermates passed away from cancer just before last Christmas.:sad:

I don't think it would be cancer. Is Kato lethargic at all or is there any dry, harsh feeling to his coat or any thinning? Any skin changes to skin colour? If so, get him tested for hypothyroidism as chronic ear infections can be a symptom as well.

I don't think it would be cancer. Is Kato lethargic at all or is there any dry, harsh feeling to his coat or any thinning? Any skin changes to skin colour? If so, get him tested for hypothyroidism as chronic ear infections can be a symptom as well.

Nope no change in his coat at all, infact since I've changed him to Orijen his coat has never looked healthier. No skin problems, no changes in skin color.
He shakes his head constantly tho, and Abby is always trying to lick his ears, which I put a stop to immediately.

LMP
a friend was having problems with her dog's ear all the time, infections, very dirty ears even though she was cleaning them. she was at the vets almost every week. she put her dog on "solid Gold" Seameal powder, twice a day, and she found a big improvement. after about 4 days she saw that her dog was not shaking his head as often and not scratching as often on his ears. she still put drops in them twice a day and cleaned his ears every day but the stuff inside was reduced alot. I'm not saying that it will cure the problem, but it might help.

Arch was having very dirty ears even though I was cleaning them also so I tried it .( I know in my case it's not the same as an infection)

Penny used to have a persistent fungal yeast infection. The only med that finally cleared it up was Surolan drops (we did 2 rounds of treatment). What I discovered, to my surprise, was that cleaning her ears with a solution actually made the problem much worse (could be because of the perfume/chemicals in the solution ?). Cleaning with vinegar and water didn't help either. I'm not sure if change of diet played a major role ie. switched to raw but, her infection has never returned. We check her ears almost daily and it's been about 2 years since I've even had to wash them...they're squeaky clean all the time.

What meds have been prescribed to Kato? It's crucial that the vet knows exactly what kind of bacteria/fungus he's dealing with in order to to treat him with the appropriate meds. this new vet will get to the bottom of this and that Kato gets some relief asap

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Sending some from this direction, too, LMPG. Poor Kato! And poor you--it's so hard to see them with a problem and not be able to help. I hope you can get to the bottom of it and he gets some relief soon!

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LMPG If you've already been to 2 different vets & had meds prescribed twice that still aren't working and Kato's ears are getting worse - I would look for a homeopath vet to get to the root of the problem & fix it for good

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What kind of drops are you putting in daily? I once had a dog that got a lot of ear infections and my vet gave me an ear cleansing solution that just had to be used 2-3 times a week. It was supposed to lower the pH level in the ear and make it harder for infections to develop. (it wasn't used to treat infections, but to prevent them) I had to squirt it in, rub it around well and let the dog shake it out again. Seemed to work. Actually come to think of it, I've had a couple of dogs over the years that have been treated the same way. I can't remember the name of the first solution that I got from the vet, but I think the second one was called Epi-Otic or something similar.

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Penny used to have a persistent fungal yeast infection. The only med that finally cleared it up was Surolan drops (we did 2 rounds of treatment). What I discovered, to my surprise, was that cleaning her ears with a solution actually made the problem much worse (could be because of the perfume/chemicals in the solution ?). Cleaning with vinegar and water didn't help either. I'm not sure if change of diet played a major role ie. switched to raw but, her infection has never returned. We check her ears almost daily and it's been about 2 years since I've even had to wash them...they're squeaky clean all the time.

What meds have been prescribed to Kato? It's crucial that the vet knows exactly what kind of bacteria/fungus he's dealing with in order to to treat him with the appropriate meds. this new vet will get to the bottom of this and that Kato gets some relief asap

At the moment Kato is on Surolan drops as well, and an ear wash provided by the vet, it has done nothing to improve the situation.:sad:

What kind of drops are you putting in daily? I once had a dog that got a lot of ear infections and my vet gave me an ear cleansing solution that just had to be used 2-3 times a week. It was supposed to lower the pH level in the ear and make it harder for infections to develop. (it wasn't used to treat infections, but to prevent them) I had to squirt it in, rub it around well and let the dog shake it out again. Seemed to work. Actually come to think of it, I've had a couple of dogs over the years that have been treated the same way. I can't remember the name of the first solution that I got from the vet, but I think the second one was called Epi-Otic or something similar.

The bottle of wash my vet gave me doesn't have a label, I watched him pour it into a couple of squirt bottles for me to take, he never told me the name of it, just said use it twice a day for two weeks, then once a day for two weeks, which we have done and things seem to improve slightly but then three days after the last wash, it's back:sad:

Our appointment is at 4:20 today, so I'm hoping we will find some relief for Kato.

...he never told me the name of it, just said use it twice a day for two weeks, then once a day for two weeks...

The cleanser I was using was not something to be weaned off of after a period of time. The idea was to use it a couple of times a week to maintain a lower pH in the ear so that infections could not develop as easily. Maybe an idea to ask your vet about?

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Beware of Mushers...They will suck you into their addiction!

The cleanser I was using was not something to be weaned off of after a period of time. The idea was to use it a couple of times a week to maintain a lower pH in the ear so that infections could not develop as easily. Maybe an idea to ask your vet about?

Thank you for the suggestion, I will definately bring it up with the vet today!

Quote:

Originally Posted by ancientgirl

LMPG, I'd read a while back about coconut oil being good for things like ear mites and infections. I know it's in one of these threads, let me see if I can find it.

At the moment Kato is on Surolan drops as well, and an ear wash provided by the vet, it has done nothing to improve the situation.:sad:

The Surolan won't be effective if it gets washed out by the ear wash . Sorta like putting an anti-fungal cream on your foot and then washing it off with soap and water . It's a med that must stay in the ears.

__________________
"Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance." -Will Durant

The Surolan won't be effective if it gets washed out by the ear wash . Sorta like putting an anti-fungal cream on your foot and then washing it off with soap and water . It's a med that must stay in the ears.

We do the wash first then apply the Surolan, first thing in the morning and then again before bed.

We went to our appt, only to be told that an emergency came in and that we would be bumped back at least a couple hours. So I rescheduled for 11:15 tomorrow morning.
I heard ppl screaming and crying in the exam room, I couldn't take it, I started crying too, so I asked to reschedule and they were very accomodating.
So back again we go in the morning.

those ppl in the exam room will be ok, but something tells me they are in for a rough time:sad:

LMPG, I took Kiska in once and had to leave her because two emergency's came in. One, the poor dog died in the waiting room. I left Kiska because she was having really bad diarrhea, but I had to leave. I felt so bad for those poor dogs that were brought in.

Hopefully, tomorrow they will be able to help. Did you manage to have a look at the link for the coconut oil?

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